


Dinner Out?

by ceria



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Nick Fury swears a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-09 02:59:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11095476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceria/pseuds/ceria
Summary: Phil needs to tell Nick something.





	Dinner Out?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jo (jmathieson)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmathieson/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Thirty Acres](https://archiveofourown.org/works/970964) by [Jo (jmathieson)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmathieson/pseuds/Jo). 



> Jo – you had so many _great_ options to consider. I finally chose this one because I haven't written Phil  & Nick in a long time and it's a very appealing friendship.

"So… I was thinking about dinner."

Nick narrowed his eye, watching his one good eye slightly fidget across the desk. He reached beneath his desk to flick off the recording devices; "Cheese?" he asked, curious. When was the last time Phil had signaled he needed to talk? Much less off the books. "Is this an outside-of-the-cafeteria type of dinner?"

"Sort of," Phil admitted, hesitating before nodding his head and changing his answer to "Yes." Which meant only tangentially work related then. 

"Tonight, six pm?" Nick asked. Because Phil already knew that Nick would be available tonight. What good was a third-in-command if he didn't already know Nick's schedule, after all. Besides, Tuesday was Nick's busiest day which meant he wouldn't have much time to dig around with the gossips and try and figure this future conversation out prior to Cheese springing something shocking on him. Nick really preferred to be knowledgeable ahead of time. Best to remind his spies that he was still capable of out-spying them from time to time -- even his best friend. 

Barely having any free time to stew over this chat didn't mean Nick ignored his curiosity. Taking it off base meant this was personal more than work-related. Hell, who was he kidding? Everything in their life tied back to SHIELD in one way or another. Maybe Phil met someone. Actually – that made a lot of sense. Tapping his finger against his chin, Nick thought it through. By five-thirty, he had it narrowed to three possibles. The good 'ole rumor mill hadn't helped either; Phil had been away on too many missions the past few months. 

If it was one of these three people, Nick would just have to fucking smile and agree to let Phil out of traveling so much. SHIELD was important but Phil deserved a life as well.

Dinner meant this family-owned Thai restaurant just three blocks away. Phil had found it their third week in New York and those first few months the two of them had ate dinner there at least three times a week. Then more difficult missions and different job titles meant much less time for things like friendly, non-work related dinners together. 

Phil was already seated, of course, in a corner table drinking beer. A cold mug across waiting for Nick as well. He was still slightly fidgeting. Nick was pretty sure he wasn't going to like this conversation. "Did you order?"

"Yeah," Phil admitted, pushing the appetizer and empty plate closer to Nick. Meanwhile, Phil had started his second beer. 

Rubbing his hands together, Nick motioned Phil to bring it to him; "Come on then, break the suspense."

He took another swig of beer before blurting out, "I met someone." Phil grimaced at the line. Nick silently agreed it wasn't inspiring.

"You meet new someones every day," Nick teased, talking a long sip. Phil gave him an unimpressed scowl and Nick grinned at him. Time to be serious then. "By my count this would be the fourth someone."

"But the first someone I really want to keep."

"That serious?" Nick asked.

"That serious," Phil confirmed. 

"So not like…" Nick started and Phil shook his head.

"Nothing like that. More like weddings and…" Phil grimaced again and shook his head, apparently surprised at himself. "Stop being an ass, Marcus. Just be happy for me."

Something was still off. Nick re-considered the three names he suspected and threw them all out and started over. Gender didn't bother Phil – he was attracted to dedication and competence. The thing was, he'd been on back-to-back missions the past few months. Who traveled the most with Phil lately? Nick blinked and had to set his beer down. 

"Holy fuck, Cheese," Nick said. "Talk about opposites…"

"He's not a screw up and you know it," Phil growled before Nick could finish that sentence. 

"No - he's good at his job. _Very_ good," Nick agreed. "But he's a skittish wild card that no one believes they can rely on."

"He's brilliant," Phil corrected. "And I've relied on his judgment for the past six months. You've read my reports. He's saved our asses more than once."

"Yeah, mostly because I thought he was tapping her – not you."

"Him and Romanoff haven't been an item for eight months," Phil admitted. He didn't deny to sleeping with Barton however though. _Interesting_. So this conversation wasn't happening because Phil wanted to date Barton – it was happening because they were already involved and suddenly Nick needed to know about it.

"Then they weren't a couple for very long." Nick knew for a fact that everyone at SHIELD still assumed Barton and Romanoff were together.

"I spoke to her five months ago," Phil finally said. 

That long? Really? Well, Nick did work with a bunch of spies but how had no one… "She's been covering for you."

Phil tilted his beer toward Nick before taking another drink. "Like you said, skittish."

"So what's changed now?" Nick smiled at the waiter bringing out their food and let the conversation drop while they ate. 

"I'm done hiding us," Phil said, pushing the empty plate away. "Clint deserves to know I'm in this for good. Sneaking around like he's my dirty little secret isn't the impression I want 'im to have."

"Barton's made quite a reputation for himself," Nick warned, watching Phil. Before Romanoff he'd gone through a string of women, leaving most of them irritated and angry. No matter how good he was at his job, Nick would fire his ass if Hawkeye was using Phil. Barton would never see Nick coming.

"Do you trust me?" Phil asked.

"Obviously," Nick scoffed.

"Then trust me," Phil leaned forward. "This is different. What Clint and I are building is different from what he had with them. What they wanted from him. Clint knows this too."

"So you say," Nick said. He'd find out for himself soon enough – no one under his command was going to fuck over Phil Coulson.

"So I say," Phil said, pushing away the empty plate. 

Well, it would be easy enough to get Phil out of the office and on a short mission without Barton. It wasn't like Nick needed a lot of time to learn a few things about Hawkeye.


End file.
